nearly two years Previously, I reviewed the $200 Nokia 5.3, which promised two years of Android OS upgrades and three years of security updates. How is Nokia brand licensing company HMD Global doing?it is just only Android 12, the year-old version of Google’s operating system, is deployed for the device.
It’s a big delay, but at least That The budget phone will get another six months of security updates before its support officially ends. Unfortunately, things got worse. Now I have a brand new $270 Nokia G400 5G that only gets two years of security updates and zero commitment to Android OS upgrades. It might get Android 13, but who’s to say since HMD hasn’t made any promises? It feels like a shift in attitude from a company that in 2016 prided itself on delivering fast updates and long-term software support.
Most Android phone manufacturers these days offer a Software Assurance Policy, so you have a good idea of how long your device will be supported.For example, the $250 Samsung Galaxy A13 5G will get two OS upgrades and Four Years of security updates. That’s great, and it means you can keep using the device without worrying about it turning into a buggy, insecure mess two years from now. If everything works, it will allow you to use your device for a long time, reducing the need to buy another phone. It’s hard to recommend a smartphone in 2022 because you don’t know if it’s going to get the latest version of the operating system.
nice hardware
Photography: Nokia
Sadly, the Nokia G400 is a pretty good phone. It looks bland and dull, just a sombre gray that doesn’t look like a “Nokia” phone at all. But the 6.58-inch LCD screen is crisp, colorful, and even has a 120 Hz screen refresh rate, so interacting with it feels smooth and responsive.
Good performance. The built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon 480+ chipset reliably runs all the apps you could want, though you’ll have to wait for it to load every now and then. (It’s limited by 4 GB of RAM.) But over the course of two weeks, I was able to use it just fine to answer emails and messages, browse Reddit and Twitter, make phone calls, and even play casual games Alto’s OdysseyThe software is stock Android 12, which is good, so you get very little bloatware (any of which is removable), and the interface looks slick.
The 5,000 mAh battery lasts a day and a half on average, and by 2022 you’ll get all the features you want in any phone, like sub-6 5G connectivity on all major US carriers (yes, including Verizon, many unlocked Nokia devices Traditionally incompatible), a headphone jack, a fingerprint sensor, and a MicroSD card slot for expanding the paltry 64 GB of internal storage. I’ve used NFC sensors to tap and pay at subway turnstiles in New York City, and you even get a charger in the box.
